So Arpaio has announced the launch of one of the largest crime suppression sweeps in Arizona's history, Operation Desert Sky, targeting drug-smugglers using desert corridors in his county.

The sweep will include the use of 30 aircraft patrolling for at least 30 days, armed posse members, drug-sniffing dogs, and SWAT teams equipped with M-16s.

I dont go along with the theory that the border is more secure than ever before, said Arpaio, whose Maricopa County includes the Phoenix area, refuting claims by federal officials that crime along the Mexican border has dropped.

His assertion is backed by the nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies' Mark Krikorian who told Newsmax that Napolitano's statements are "political spin," and her defense of administration policies along the border is becoming something of a laughing stock.

Under Arpaio's plan, airborne spotters will report suspicious activity to deputies on the ground.

Given the level of danger posed by the smugglers, deputies and qualified armed posse volunteers including the SWAT team will be equipped to respond on the ground with M-16s and other firearms including the Sheriffs 50-caliber machine gun, Arpaio, who has been called Americas toughest sheriff, said in a statement.

The operation follows the recent arrests of 207 illegal immigrants in the county and the seizure of some 36,000 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines in the past year.

Napolitano said last week that security on the southern U.S. border "is better now than it ever has been."

But drug traffickers have now been using sophisticated technology to elude detection, including radio transponders installed in Arizona mountain ranges and solar-powered radios in the desert.

Ollie, ollie in free...Federal Agents Told to Reduce Border Arrests, Arizona Sheriff SaysApril 01, 2011 | An Arizona sheriff says U.S. Border Patrol officials have repeatedly told him they have been ordered to reduce -- at times even stop -- arrests of illegal immigrants caught trying to cross the U.S. border.

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever told FoxNews.com that a supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol told him as recently as this month that the federal agencys office on Arizona's southern border was under orders to keep apprehension numbers down during specific reporting time periods. The senior supervisor agent is telling me about how their mission is now to scare people back, Dever said in an interview with FoxNews.com. He said, I had to go back to my guys and tell them not to catch anybody, that their job is to chase people away. They were not to catch anyone, arrest anyone. Their job was to set up posture, to intimidate people, to get them to go back.

Dever said his recent conversation with the Border Patrol supervisor was the latest in a series of communications on the subject that he has had with various federal agents over the last two years. Dever said he plans to relay the substance of these conversations when he testifies under oath next month before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. I will raise my hand to tell the truth and swear to God, and nothing is more serious or important than that, he said. Im going to tell them that, heres what I hear and see every day: I had conversation with agent A, B, C, D and this is what they told me. Devers charges were vigorously denied by a commander with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The claim that Border Patrol supervisors have been instructed to underreport or manipulate our statistics is unequivocally false, Jeffery Self, commander of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Joint Field Command in Arizona, said in a written statement. I took an oath that I take very seriously, and I find it insulting that anyone, especially a fellow law enforcement officer, would imply that we would put the protection of the American public and security of our nations borders in danger just for a numbers game," he said. "Our mission does not waiver based on political climate, and it never will. To suggest that we are ambiguous in enforcing our laws belittles the work of more than 6,000 CBP employees in Arizona who dedicate their lives to protect our borders every day.

Mexican narco-war gonna be comin' up here...DHS Budget Says Napolitano Doesnt Intend to Secure a Single Additional Mile of U.S. BorderThis Year or NextTuesday, February 15, 2011 : Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano released a budget document on Monday that indicates that the Department of Homeland Security does not intend to put a single additional mile of the U.S. border under effective control in either fiscal year 2011 or 2012.

According to Napolitano's budget plan, the Border Patrol had 1,007 miles of the U.S. border under "effective control" at the end of fiscal year 2010, and DHS aims to stick with exactly that number through this year and next. The 3311-page document released by Napolitano--"Congressional Budget Justification: FY 2012"--also says DHS does not intend to add a single additional Border Patrolmen in fiscal year 2012, after adding 859 this year. Nor, the document says, does DHS intend to deploy a single additional Border Patrol agent to either the U.S.-Mexico or U.S.-Canada border in fiscal year 2012, capping Border Patrol deployments at the two borders at this years level.

DHS declares it has established effective control of a mile of the U.S. border when the appropriate mix of personnel, equipment, technology and tactical infrastructure has been deployed to reasonably ensure that when an attempted illegal entry is detected, the Border Patrol has the ability to identify, classify and respond to bring the attempted illegal entry to a satisfactory law enforcement resolution. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a subdivision of DHS, is responsible for securing 8,607 miles of U.S. border, including the 1,994-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border, the approximately 4,000-mile-long U.S.-Canada border, and sections of coastline in the Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to DHS budget justification released Monday, CBP currently has only 1,007 of the 8,607 miles of border it is responsible for under effective control. Nonetheless, the same document says establishing effective control of the borders is CBP's first objective. The document states: CBP Strategic Goal 1: Secure our Nations borders to protect America from the entry of dangerous people and goods and prevent unlawful trade and travel; Objective 1.1: Establish and maintain effective control of air, land, and maritime borders through the use of the appropriate mix of infrastructure, technology, and personnel.

Napolitano Touts New Index to Measure Southwest Border Security But Border Patrol Union SkepticalMonday, May 09, 2011  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano said in her prepared testimony last week before Congress that the agency is creating a new index to comprehensively measure security along the Southwest border and the quality of life in the region. But a spokesman for a Border Patrol union said he was skeptical of any new index that did not seek to track the number of illegal aliens who actually get away and escape into the United States.

The new index touted by Napolitano before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 4 would replace the current metrics used to measure security including, for example, operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border, which is also referred to as effective control. According to DHS, as reported by the General Accountability Office, operational/effective control is defined as the number of border miles where Border Patrol had the ability to detect, respond, and interdict cross-border illegal activity. Simply put, a border mile under operational control is a place on the border where the U.S. government can be reasonably expected to intercept an illegal crosser.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of committee, asked Napolitano at the hearing whether it was possible to have total operational control of the U.S. southwest border with Mexico as defined by the Secure Fence Act of 2006. And, I quote, Lieberman said, As the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband, end quote. Lieberman said he doubted the border could be completely secure, which led Napolitano to label the term operational control as archaic and part of the reason why a new tool to measure border security was needed.

That is why weve gone back and said, Look, operational control, its an archaic term  I think that was testified to by some of the other witnesses youve had in this area, Napolitano said. Its a limited term of art. It makes for a sound byte but it doesnt actually reflect the reality of whats happening at the border. But the fact of the matter is that we need a more quantitative and qualitative way to reflect what actually is happening at the border. Thats what Ive directed CBP to prepare, Napolitano said. (CBP is the acronym for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is a component of the Department of Homeland Security.)

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